Researching Corporations and Mobs

Ok so my action graphic novel "LOOT" features around the idea of my protagonist being a spy for this leader of one cooperation. This leader guy wants to destroy the competition of other companies so he sends the protagonist who has crazy space warping abilities on the inside. These companies and corporations are literally at war with each other similar to the way big city mobsters work but on a giant level with more formality and much of it is secret. Essentially, they control much of the money in the entire country now. The corporations, like the mob live in "families" which have a set of rules they define for working for/against each other. But this guy starts going against the rules making everyone start to play really violently and illegally.

I know next to nothing about jobs and money making powerhouses nor the Mob. So far I have researched types of LLC, corporations, LLP, Sole Proprietary etc... and also a bit on how to form a company. I also have looked a bit at how the mob works but I'm a bit confused here. My book takes place in a totally futuristic fantasy world, not the real world. All the laws and operation strategies would be made up BUT I do realize I need to know how this stuff works in the real world to be able to accurately world build a believable society. Not to mention my characters need to have things to do other than attack each other.

1) Watch a mob film like The Sopranos or The Godfather. But keep an eye out on how the power structure within the mafia works. It's a top down approach -- the boss gives out orders, but there's always conflict between the various bosses, and people want to rise the ranks, etc. Another good show to watch to see organizational dynamics of the underworld at play is The Wire.

2) Read a book on corporate malfeasence. A good one is "The Smartest Guys In The Room" about the collapse of Enron. If you read that, you'll see a lot of similarities between corporate life and criminal syndicates in terms of their structure. There's a similar top-down approach to all of them, with all sorts of competitions.

3) And be more specific about "corporation." I think you need to worry less about LLC's and sole proprietorships and how that works and more develop an economy for your world first. As in -- corporations produce and sell goods or services. What do yours do?